Heat does cause parts internal to the engine to wear faster. Warn and abused parts of the engine will fail with time and friction will cause more heat. Exterior cooling of the engine components is one way but it seems that the unregulated cooling of anything will cause more damage as lubricants and metal have to heat up to do their intended work. There are lots of factors that can cause more heat. An engine out of time, poor performing spark plugs, points, valve adjustment to name a few. However since the only two things that will cool an air cooled engine is the Air coming across the fined areas and the oil why not put a oil cooling system on the car.
There is an oil cooling system used on VW air cooled engines for years. Besides having an external spin on filter that is cheaper and more readily available than the Honda oil filter element, the system offers an oil thermostat that will help to regulate the temperature of the oil flowing through the cooling coils. Which will maintain the oil at a more stable temperature and cool the engine. So do parts wear over time, yes there is no stopping wear but it can be reduced and the viscosity retained in the lubricant. Also, by having an external filtering system, components can be added to monitor temperature and oil pressure. With the only parts being modified are the original oil filter cap and center bolt. If you have ever opened the cases of the Honda 600 engine you saw the blackened tar like material on everything.
That's what over heated oil does and oil that is being constantly baked loses it's lubricating capability.
Yes, changing the oil, using a better oil and ensuring all the adjustments are correct helps. With the design of the Honda 600 engine where the same oil lubricates the transmission and engine at the same time should allow the oil to cool some before being pumped back up to the cam box and down the through the engine again. It should also be noted that the oil pump circulates all the oil once every minute at idle or 1100 rpms. And 5.5 times that when your cruising down the road at 65mph. There is not a lot of time for the oil to cool off "and" when you drop off the freeway the oil temp will climb to 230 + degrees in the case at the first stop light. The temp of the oil in bearings can run much higher and with only a limited amount of oil to dissipate the heat (about 3 quarts) things tend to heat up.
Beefing up other components in the engine will help. Miles made a steel oil pump rod that is the best insurance to having a bullet proof oil pump. Using that oil pump rod and sleeving the eccentric it runs on to ensure everything is with in spec is the best way to go. I have used oil pumps that were scored and pumps that were new and they both push 0 psi at idle and about 8 to 10 psi at 3K rpms.
Oh the new pump pushed about 30 psi at first but after a few hundred miles it acted just like the old pump. The low psi is due to the 95% roller/ball bearing in the crankshaft, rods and transmission.
I have two Honda 600's one is completely stock (its used mainly for shows), no cooler and after running it 15 miles down the road it is so hot I can't touch the top of the engine. The Honda 600 run the same distance with the oil cooler is warm, but no where near the heat on the one with out the oil cooler.
Just something to think about.
Bill
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> 2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com [mailto:2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com] > On Behalf Of > theenginebuilder@...
> Sent:
> Saturday, July 23, 2011 8:46
> AM
> To:
> 2cylinderhondas@yahoogroups.com
> Subject:
> [2cylinderhondas] (unknown)
> The part of the question that Bill has left out when
> asking is that the engine is air cooled! When talking to "Help Desks and > Salespeople" they automatically think you are asking about a regular water > cooled engine. The heat transfer has already taken place under the paint in a > liquid cooled engine. In fact the paint has helped the process by forcing some > of the heat to transfer to the coolant instead of the air. The smooth outside > surface of a liquid cooled engine does not transfer as much heat as we would > like. You don't use regular paint on the inside of a water cooled engine > because it stops heat from transferring through the metal to the cooling > system.
> Sure people paint air cooled engines. It's for looks and it does reduce > cooling! Remember that "Help Desks and Salespeople" don't own the > engine that's getting the paint. Doesn't matter what happens to it in the > future as far as they are concerned. Heat transfer is rocket science and these > people are not that kind of scientist are they?
> Go ahead and paint your engine if you want. Somewhere down the line a > professional will be glad for the engine rebuild job and see the results of > lack of cooling.
> Bruce